EC Triton Companionway hatch

Dave, 397 · Post by **Dave, 397** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 1:30 am

Here is a real winner of a question!

My hatch is a real pile of trash. There were once some wood slides inset in the 'glass to ride on the aluminum rails---I can figure that part OK. What I CAN't figure, is what was supposed to be there to hold the aft end of the hatch down to the rails and prevent it from lifting up like the hood of an old Yugo.

Anybody got theirs off, and got pics???? I can see several ways to make it do what I want, but all probably a lot more complicated than what was originally there. No sense reinventing the wheel if I don't have to, thanks to anyone who can help in advance!

Best,
Dave

Post by **Tim** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 7:33 am

Dave,

The hatch has a pair of aluminum inverted "L"-shaped brackets secured to the underside, which ride on the tracks on the coachroof and prevent the hatch from lifting off.

Below is a picture of one of my old ones (off the hatch). I will check my photo files for more; this is the only one that is on the site, apparently. The picture is not very helpful, I'm afraid. The aluminum brackets were secured to thin strips of wood. I replaced the wood and epoxied the strips to the hatch. I'll get a picture of the current arrangement later today.

You can find more info on the companionway in general at:
http://www.triton381.com/projects/resto ... cktrim.htm

Post by **Tim** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 7:54 am

Here are a couple more pictures that I found.

This one attempts to show the bracket:

Here is a photo of the underside of the hatch, with brackets installed:

I'll get you some detail shots today.

Post by **Tim** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 1:31 pm

Here are a couple more shots of the brackets. They are screwed to the inside edge of those wooden pieces glued to the underside of the hatch.

Dave, 397 · Post by **Dave, 397** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 4:12 pm

Great, Tim---Thank You!

I still have a fair bit of Ironwood...so, not really wanting to mess around cutting AL angle to the right dimension, I'm thinking of just milling the whole part for each side in one piece of ironwood (plenty stout!).

I guess it would have been wise to have asked before you had to go to the boat and take those pics...but appx. what are the dimensions involved?
The way things are playing out, I don't have the luxury of fitting all the parts as the compway assembles, then finishing...so I have to basically duplicate the Pearson parts, slop and all, and hope that the old ones actually did fit OK once upon a time.

Thanks,
Dave

Post by **Tim** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 4:46 pm

Those wood strips/runners are 1/4" thick, so I guess the aluminum is about 1/2" tall in total, with the lower 1/4" sticking out to create the "L".

Or, in general, there needs to be enough clearance to allow the brackets to slide on your existing aluminum rails. You can figure out what clearance is needed easily enough based on that.

I think wood would work fine. The aluminum is no treat--the companionway s**ks--wicked dry and sticky. I should really lube the slides with some dry lube or silicone spray--something to add to the list (never really gave it a thought till now).

"Next time" I would reengineer the whole thing and probably build a new hatch, too. But at the time, of course, rebuilding the companionway fell through the cracks and then suddenly "had to be done now". You know how that goes!